Juniper Tree

A single juniper trees stands in the center of a large clearing surrounded by brown grass

Drawing: Romano-British Shackle

Drawing of a Romano-British iron ring shackle. It consists of two semi-circular loops that have been threaded together and closed like links of a chain. This acts as a hinge to open and close the shackle. The opposite ends of the semicircles also terminate in loops which can be threaded together and bound or locked closed. Two rings are attached to the center of each semicircular section through which chains can be run.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Close up of Berenice's Eyes

Close up of Berenice's eyes
Date:
2021

Berenice's eyes

Piercing eyesight of Queen Berenice
Date:
2021
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Imagined confluence of the Rhine, Po and Rhône

Imagined confluence of the Rhine, Po and Rhône
Date:
2021
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Witenwasserenstock

Witenwasserenstock
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Argonauts across Europe 2

Argonauts across Europe 2
Date:
2021
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Argonauts across Europe 1

Argonauts across Europe 1
Date:
2021
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Aphrodite Anadyomene

Photograph showing the upper part of a marble statue of Aphrodite. The statue is visible from the waist up. Aphrodite is nude. Her arms are raised, her hands on either side of her head gathering her hair and twisting it ti wring it out.

Roman Ivory Comb

Double-sided ivory comb. The center spine has been carved out to read MODESTINA VHEE.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Roman Ivory Hair Pin

Ivory hair pin. One end is tapered to a point to be inserted in the hair. The opposite end features a carving of a monkey sitting on his back haunches with his front paws raised at chest height. The monkey carving sits atop a turned section of ivory shaped like a small pedestal, below which the ivory is incised in five concentric bands.
Image Credit:
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marble portrait of Agrippina the Elder

Sculpted marble head of Agrippina the Elder. Her hair is parted in the center with a slight wave to it. Beginning just above the temple it is styled in loose curls. The head has sustained damage: the nose and point of the of chine are largely missing and the lips have been chipped as well.

Staia Quinta bust (rear view)

Rear view of a marble bust of a woman. The right side of the head is shown. A series of of curls, beginning about 2/3 of the way across the crown of the head, cascades diagonally from the temple along the skull toward the nape of the neck. The bottom few inches of her hair, beginning approximately where the base of the neck joins the shoulders, transitions from curls to a braid.

Staia Quinta bust

Marble bust of a woman. Her hair is parted in the center, falling in waves to about the temples. At the temples it begins to fall in a cascade of tight curls following the contour of the skull and neck.

Amber on the Beach

Amber on the Beach
Date:
2015
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Heliades in Arbores

Heliades
Date:
1563
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Speaking Argo

Speaking Argo
Date:
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1934
Image Credit:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

The Keraunian Mountains

Map showing the Keraunian Mountains

More travels in the Adriatic

More travels in the Adriatic.
Date:
2021

Roman Sarcophagus: Selene and Endymion

Carved panel from the side of a Roman sarcophagus. Selene, steps down from her chariot. At her feet lies Endymion. A woman stands over him, holding a bunch of poppies in the crook of her left arm. In her right hand she pours something from a small bottle over Endymion.

Mosaic: Aurora and Cephalus

Aurora (Greek: Eos) gazes down at Cephalus who lies across her lap. Aurora's right arm is draped across Cephalus's body, her right hand grasping his left hip. She is dressed in a long gown gathered at the right shoulder. A drape billows behind the couple forming a halo before threading under Cephalus's left arm. Cephalus is shown nude.

Engraving: Memnon on the pyre

Memnon lies in the middle of a large fire on a rocky outcrop. A flock of birds rises among the smoke from the fire. On a cloud in the upper right corner Aurora stands before Jupiter's throne pleading with him. Jupiter's eagle perches by his right leg.

Cameo: Aurora in her chariot

Arurora stands in a two-wheeled chariot, pulled by two horses. She holds the reins with both hands. Her garment billows around her creating a halo effect.

Giovanni da San Giovanni: Aurora and Tithonus

Aurora lovingly gazes down at an aged, sleeping Tithonus. Her garment is twisted around her hips, having fallen down, baring her torso. In a fold of the garment she has gathered roses. Her right arm is raised, a rose in her hand. Three roses are falling down toward Tithonus, either dropped by Aurora or fallen out of her garment.

Fresco from the House of Julia Felix

Fresco in two registers, depicting two shelves. On the top shelf a bag, probably containing coins, sits in the center flanked on one side by a pile of silver coins and on the other gold. On the lower shelf, an inkwell sits far left with a stylus balanced across the left. next to lays a scroll. To the right of the scroll is an open set of wax tablets with a second stylus. Far right, a closed set of wax tablets.

Roman-British writing implements and materials

Photograph of ancient writing implements. A set of styluses, ink opt and wooden pieces of a wax tablet.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Wax tablet from Egypt

Two pieces of wood joined by a hinge. Each piece of wood has a shallow cavity in the center which would have held the wax. Lines of text are visible where the user scratched through the wax into the wood.
Date:
3rd century AD
Image Credit:
Wikimedia Commons

Terracotta figure: Woman reading a writing tablet

Seated woman dressed in a chiton wearing a cylindrical headpiece known as a polos. In her lap rests a rectangular writing tablet
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Epitaph of Gnome

Marble tombstone with incised inscription highlighted by red paint.

Islands in the Adriatic

The Argonauts navigate their way through a large number of islands
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Argonautic travels in the Adriatic

Argonautic travels in the Adriatic
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Summer storms in the Adriatic

Summer storms in the Adriatic
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

The escape route of the Argonauts after the murder of Apsyrtus

The route taken by the Argonauts after the murder of Apsyrtus
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

River Kur (Kyrus)

Apollonius perhaps thought that the River Kur (Kyrus) joined the Phasis somewhere in the Caucasus Mountains
Date:
2021
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Jason eagerly leaps ashore

François Vase (Black Figure Krater, Kleitias, ABV, 76,1)
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer

Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer 3rd–2nd century B.C.
Date:
3rd–2nd century B.C.
Image Credit:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Drawing: Ulysses at Alcinous's Palace

Ulysses (Odysseus), dressed in full armor with helmet, walks with King Alcinous. They stand in the center foreground on the walking path of a planned garden, trees on either side of them. In the middle ground courtiers stroll the gardens, including the princess and her attendants. Greenhouses or outbuildings line the left and right margins of the garden and in the far background steps leads up to the terrace of Alcinous's palace, drawn to resemble a Renaissance villa.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Denarius of Augustus

Silver coin featuring August in profile right on the obverse. On reverse Tarpeia facing front both arms raised, her hair loose around her shoulders, a pile of shields in front of her almost as high as her waist.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Attic Red Figure Vase: Amymone pursued by Poseidon

Poseidon stands center, nude except for his cloak draped over his left shoulder. He holds his trident in his left hand. He looks toward Amymone at left. She holds a jug in her left hand and looks back over her right shoulder at Poseidon. Her right hand is raised toward Poseidon. To the right of Poseidon stands another woman, probably one of Amymone's sisters.

Mosaic: Leda and the swan

Leda stands with her back to the viewer. She is in a garden, a fountain or birdbath to her left, to her right a swan turning its head to look back over its shoulder at Leda. Leda wears a breastband, but her dress or wrap has fallen down revealing her buttocks. She holds one end of the garment in her right hand, the rest is draped over her left arm. Her head is turned and she looks down toward the swan.

Cigarette Card: Helen of Troy

Helen stands on a balcony or rooftop, center, dressed in a lightweight peplos with a shawl or wrap draped over her left shoulder. Her arms are bare except for an arm ring on her upper right arm and bracelet on her left forearm. Her arms are raised, with her hands behind her head. Her dress and wrap are blown backward by the wind outlining her figure.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Cameo: Venus and Mars in Vulcan's net

Square onyx and sardonyx cameo. In the center, Vulcan stands on the right wearing a dark tunic and white cap. He holds a hammer in his left hand and gestures with his right hand toward Venus and Mars shown nude, lying on a bed. Overlaying the image are the dark ropes of a net in which Vulcan has captured the lovers. Encircling the scene are several busts representing the other Olympian gods. The artist has engraved his name, D. Calabresi, across one of the ropes forming the net.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Hector and Andromache

Bronze statue of Andromache embracing Hector before he leaves for battle. Hector wears his armor and helmet. He holds his spear away from his body in his right hand. Andromache's face is hidden in Hector's chest as she grasps his by right shoulder with her left hand. Andromache wraps her right arm around Hector's left shoulder. Hector's left arm reaches up from under Andromache's right to embrace her, his hand resting in her right bicep.

Escape from Colchis

Map showing how Medea and the Argonauts make their escape from Colchis
Date:
2021
Subject:
Apollonius Argonautica

Apulian red-figure situla: Odysseus and Diomedes steal the horses of Rhesus

The painting is roughly divided into two registers. In the upper register three Thracians sleep, two on the left, one on the right. They wear long belted tunics with long sleeves and leggings decorated in a zigzag pattern visible beneath. On their heads are pointed hats or hoods. The lower register shows Diomedes (left) and Odysseus (right) stealing two horses. Both men are nude except for their cloaks and carry swords in their right hands. Odysseus is bearded and wears a pointed hat.

Fresco: Cupid holding a rhombus

Venus sits on a chair or throne in the foreground dressed in a loosely draped garment. Mars stands behind the chair wearing a helmet with a large crest; some sort of cloak or cloth is draped over his left shoulder. He reaches around to grope Venus with his left hand. Venus reaches up with her left hand grasping his elbow. Cupid, shown as a winged cherub, hovers in the background holding a rhombus.

Drawing: Venus wounded by Diomedes

Diomedes (left) steps toward the left with right arm raised and pulled back preparing to stab Aeneas with his spear. Venus intervenes wrapping her right arm around Aeneas's waist and flying him away while warding off Diomedes with her left hand. Aeneas's left arm and shield are draped over Venus's shoulder, a sword hilt is visible in his right hand, but the blade is mostly out of frame.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Roman Cameo: Ajax seizing Cassandra

Cassandra clings to the statue of Athena, half sitting on its base as Ajax grabs her by the left shoulder with his right hand. On wears a helmet and bears a shield on his left arm. A chlamys is draped around his shoulders.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Wall painting: Ariadne waking on the shore of Naxos

Araidne (foreground center) lies on a mattress or pallet with a pillow as backrest. She supports herself on her right arm while raising her left, in which she holds a length of the cloth covering her, toward a ship sailing away in the background. In the stern of the ship the steersman points to the right away from Ariadne.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.

Roman Mosaic: Atalanta Hunting

Atalanta rides a galloping horse, bow held in her right hand with arrow nocked and ready. She wears ankle high boots, a knee-length tunic, and cloak. The cloak streams back behind her revealing the quiver on her back.
Image Credit:
© Trustees of the British Museum. Used by permission.